The Last Of Us Theory

[GribbleGrunger]

When I played The Last Of Us (11 times), there was one detail that stuck out to me. When writers create characters they tend to know more about the character than the reader. They do this so a subtext can emerge naturally without direct reference in the narrative. The reader/viewer simply gets a taste of it. They can't put their finger on why they feel or think this way, they just do. This is why the writing in this game is the best out there.

That brings me to the 'anomaly' in The Last Of Us. Everything we find out about the characters throughout the game adds depth or broadens our understanding of the character. It all feeds into the emotional journey and narrative beats, except one rather flippant fact thrown in arbitrarily mid game: Joel plays the guitar and sings. Many would argue it's just giving Joel depth but a good writer would not just add something for the sake of it. So why, in the context of the story and character development, would Naughty Dog decide to throw this in mid game at a peaceful time and then echo it one last time in the most harrowing moment of the game? Why is that detail 'inserted'? Yes, there were references to music here and there, such is in the car after Bills Town and in the dance scene for Left Behind, but this was 'colour' not really character development.

I think TLOU2 was already in the planning stages and ND decided on something early on because Ashley Johnson can actually sing. Those lines added into The Last of Us where added into the gameplay and not cutscenes, meaning it would have been easy to cut them in at a later date. We've heard from Nolan North how he'd add little quips into gameplay by simply watching someone play the game and add libbing. I think it's the same thing here and, to me, why those lines felt arbitrary. I don't mean in a bad way though. for me the scene is set and artwork has already hinted who the main character of the story will be. It's been fobbed off as just concept art but I think Naughty Dog are up to their old tricks. Here's the artwork I'm speaking of and Ashley Johnson singing a certain song, and yes, she also plays the guitar ... :

And a bonus track because I think the emotion in here singing voice is fuqing incredible

[Lordfancypants]

So Joel goes out at the beginning ala his daughter in moving opening sequence ?

Then we play as older Ellie?

Either way I want another one. It is a great game.

[GribbleGrunger]

So Joel goes out at the beginning ala his daughter in moving opening sequence ?

Then we play as older Ellie?

Either way I want another one. It is a great game.

This is how I'd start TLOU2:

Opening scene:

three men we're not familiar with are chatting while walking home from scavenging for food. It's getting darker so they begin to hurry. We find ourselves in control of one of the men and begin to play. There are broken down buildings everywhere, the remnants of a small village. As our new protagonist draws closer to the heart of the village we hear our first infected.

Cutscene to us hiding with the other two men. It's getting very dark now and we need to make a choice. Do we hold up for the night amongst the infected or press on? The sound of the infected grows closer and we hear our first clicker. We run, realising they're almost upon us. Infected are pouring out of the ran-shackled buildings either side as we run through, getting closer and closer with every step. We realise we must now hide because the sheer number of the infected would make it impossible to escape.

Cutscene of one of the men getting dragged to the floor. We hear a scream as the other man gets caught too. We're now running as fast as we can, alone, desperate and with little hope of escaping. We're suddenly tripped and the infected are upon us, ripping at our clothing. We back out on palms and feet, immediately running towards an open doorway. Once inside we shut the door and bar it, the infected crunching against it as they form a wave of terrible intent.

There we hold up and eventually fall asleep. A beam of light shining through the rafters wakes us in the morning, the sound of the infected gone, replaced by the singing of early morning birds. Pulling ourselves together we continue on towards our home. The terror of that night makes us feel queasy, an effect similar to when Joel gets badly hurt kicks in.

We can see smoke from the buildings of our base in the distance. All is now quiet except for our heartbeat which steadily grows the further we walk. Suddenly the controls jerk our character left and then right before giving us full control again. A bug in the game? We begin to stagger, our vision blurring, our heart beating faster and louder. There, on a hill we see a lone campfire and immediately begin to run towards it. Again the controller fights against us, the camera more frenetic, running automatic now and impossible to stop. We have some control but not much. We feet compelled by the game to head straight for the camp fire and the sound of a guitar playing.

Just a hundred or so yards to go now as our out of control protagonist sprints up the hill towards the campfire. The camera rises up above us, looking down upon the character before sweeping over and behind the person playing the guitar. Now we're in control of that character, reaching for our bow and readying our aim. Ellie shoots and kills. Opening credits.

Now we know the answer to Sam's question. Now we know they ARE still in there but unable to control themselves. Now we have an idea of how it feels to become a runner and so give killing them even more weight.

[Lordfancypants]

You're getting me excited for a part 2.

It is one of my favorite games.

[Legend]

You're getting me excited for a part 2.

It is one of my favorite games.

Tell us your secrets!

[GribbleGrunger]

I feel smug